Yesavage returning to Blue Jays, to start Tuesday

TORONTO -- Finally, Trey Yesavage is back.

The Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect and the breakout star of their 2025 World Series run will be activated off the injured list Tuesday to make his 2026 debut against the Red Sox, manager John Schneider said Saturday.

Yesavage’s spring was slowed by a right shoulder impingement and he’s been ramping up with rehab games, first in Single-A Dunedin and more recently in Triple-A Buffalo. In his last outing, Yesavage threw just 64 pitches when the Blue Jays were hoping for that number to reach a bit higher, but they’ve met with Yesavage in Toronto over the past couple of days and determined that he’s done enough to return.

“We’re making sure that once we hit ‘go,’ we don’t hit ‘pause,’” Schneider said. “He checked all of the boxes that we had hoped for. I wasn’t really looking at results, more looking at his stuff and the plan we had laid out since Spring Training. Getting him here with a little adrenaline and getting him going will be a good thing for him and a good thing for us.”

It had to be jarring for Yesavage to be back in a Minor League environment after his 2025 season, which began in Single-A and ended in the World Series, where Yesavage pitched in some of the biggest moments for the Blue Jays. Now, the Blue Jays hope he’s here to stay, a permanent piece in a rotation that desperately needs more of those while this organization also deals with injuries to José Berríos, Shane Bieber, Cody Ponce and Bowden Francis.

The slower build-up to Yesavage’s debut could naturally take care of some of his workload restrictions, too. Last year, Yesavage threw a total of 139 2/3 innings between the Minor Leagues and the Blue Jays, postseason included.

Don’t expect the Blue Jays to crank Yesavage up to 100-plus pitches right away, either. Coming up through the Minor Leagues and even in the postseason last year, Yesavage typically landed more in the range of 65 to 85 pitches, a strategy that could be used again this season to keep him fresh for what the Blue Jays hope is another postseason run.

The countermove: Eric Lauer to the bullpen

Lauer now becomes the Blue Jays’ long reliever, an opportunity for him to bounce back after a difficult start to the season and fill a valuable role in the middle innings.

Lauer had recently spoken out about pitching behind an opener on the recent road trip, comments which required a conversation with his manager and other members of the organization soon after. Lauer was also vocal about his desire to start in Spring Training, but Schneider is confident that this change will still work for everyone involved.

“He gets it. It’s not ideal for anyone,” Schneider said. “We all know Eric doesn’t like openers, he doesn’t like not starting. He’s still going to pitch meaningful innings for us. Our rotation has been and maybe will continue to be in flux. He was playing catch-up, I think. After his first outing, his stuff was down and there were some delivery things. Just talking to him yesterday, there’s still an opportunity to work on those things.”

Rotation changes: Cease and Corbin

A quick change to Sunday’s plans, too, as Patrick Corbin will now start for the Blue Jays with Dylan Cease moving ahead one day to Monday against the Red Sox.

There’s nothing going on with either pitcher, physically, just a matter of differing workloads. In Cease’s last outing on the road against the D-backs, he threw a season-high 110 pitches, while Corbin threw just 65 in his most recent outing. Considering the recent off-day, this still keeps Corbin on regular rest and allows Cease to stay fresher, a wise move ahead of the Blue Jays’ first divisional games of 2026.